The Last Hoorah of Production

Good morning my lovely readers, today marks the end of production. The movie has been filmed, edited, and reviewed. Filming took four days and five locations. Editing took several days and many hours. The review was actually the short part, it only took about a day.

It was a tiring process, to be blunt. I have to say though, it was very educational for my movie knowledge. Now I can appreciate films a little bit better. 

To get back on track, the main things I learned during filming were to come prepared. Not knowing your lines just wastes time and is selfish to the other people. That being said, I did not memorize my lines all that much. Yes, but I memorized them very quickly. Preparedness is also having props. My group had to scramble a little to get our props together, it was mostly because of the poster, seashell, and tickets (the big props).

When it comes to editing, I learned to always think ahead. When doing research, start gathering ideas. "I liked that establishing shot" so use that same angle for your own movie. It could even be, "will this be heard during editing" and "will this need to be refilmed". Just simple thoughts like those, help you in the future.

The film review was definitely crucial. It gave great suggestions from an outside perspective.

All in all, production was very fun but difficult. Some things were harder than others, but it all worked out in the end.

Mis-en-scene

Welcome back my lovely readers, today is a day of reflection. I wanted to go over the complexity of mis-en-scene. More specifically, how my film fits into it. When I think of mis-en-scene I use the acronym CLAMPS. It makes it easier to understand and stands for costumes, lights, acting, makeup, props, and setting. Now for my movie, the costumes stay the same. Sam wears a cropped, purple tank top and jean shorts, she also has a blue jacket. Riley wears a long-sleeve flannel with long jean shorts. The lighting is all natural lights, all scenes were filmed outside with the exception of the elevator scene (the lighting is that was all lighting with the elevator, nothing was added). The acting stays the same, there are only two characters who are in every scene. I play Sam and Ashleigh plays Riley. There was no makeup, I didn't wear any for Sam and Ashleigh didn't wear any for Riley. The props get a little more complex, after all the movie is about a treasure hunt. In the first scene, the props are Sam's phone, Sam's keys, Sam's backpack, Riley's headphones, and the treasure hunt poster. In the second scene, all of Sam and Riley's things, the poster, and the seashell. In the third scene, all of Sam and Riley's things, and the tickets. In the fourth scene, all of Sam and Riley's things, and the red box. In the fifth and final scene, all of Sam and Riley's things. Now while some props only exist for one scene, many of them are in all scenes. For setting (in order of scenes) they are: parking garage and elevator, the beach, the bridge, Las Olas, and parking garage. You may be wondering why I went over all of this mis-en-scene, the reason is to show that planning out these things (which my group had done) helps not only for filming but also editing. It allows you to know what needs to be brought and worn to filming and where it takes place. For editing purposes, it makes you think about continuity and allows you to know what clips match with what scene.

Editing, Editing, Editing

Hello to my lovely readers, today I need to give you all an update about the editing. The editing process has been going great, it's much more relaxed than filming was. For the most part, Ashleigh and Britanique did most of the editing, since I was the main character in the movie. I did give some suggestions and input.

Most of the editing has been piecing the clips together and putting them in order. The other two main things have been the title designs and audio. It is important for the title designs not to distract viewers from the scenes. I thought that they should be placed in the corner at first. However, after a discussion with Ashleigh and Britanique they'll be in different spots.

Not only did clips need to be put together, but the quaility needed to be good. All of the shots were filmed on Ashleigh and Britanique's phones since they would be the ones to edit. My phone was used as a prop. Sam is on the phone for the first and last scene and then it is visibly shown in Sam's back pocket.

One of the most important things I learned about in editing is what should be done in filming to make editing easier. It's the same thing I always learn, including last year's projects. For example, making shots longer than they should be. Start the video first, then have the actors start, and then end the video. Also, making sure that there is time before the actors start moving/talking, as well as after too. This allows for the clips to be cut during editing, instead of during filming. All in all, editing has been a smooth process which makes it enjoyable.

The Film Review

Welcome back my lovely readers, today was the day my group and I made the changes to our film. The changes were on title design and music. One of my friends watched the film and gave suggestions. All of the suggestions were well thought out.

Changing music is always the most difficult. Audio is difficult to work with and adjusting the volume to have a fade becomes complex. Fading the music in and out takes a lot of editing capability. The music now subtly appears and subtly disappears, having the fade effect.

The title designs are now a little more eye catching, but still not distracting. They essentially now align with my original suggestion. My suggestion creates a theme effect for them. I wanted the title designs to have a consistent font and consistent colors. This gives it a more uniform look. When I say they got changed, the format got changed. The format having a structure makes the movie look more clean. My friend said how they were too small, and she didn't fully realize they were there.

The transitions were a big focus in the editing process. I wanted the clips to have a smooth transition, especially when they are part of the same theme. However, the group wanted them to be distinct. The transitions are now uniform. My friend mentioned how the transitions looked messy. Not every transition is exactly the same, but most of them are.

I think the changes made make the film look much better. Asking someone without any experience in making a movie (not that I'm a professional at it) was good for the film. I'm happy about the changes that got made and getting input from an outside source was essential.

A Deep Dive Into Editing

Welcome back my lovely readers, I've now plunged deeper into editing. To describe it in one word: complicated. During editing, there's always things you find that make you want to turn back time and fix during filming. My thoughts went like this: "Ugh, why did we use that shot" or "Did none of us think ahead to editing for that". They were small details, but I was still annoyed with myself. For example, making the shots a little longer or walking a little slower. They ultimately won't make a difference in the movie and anyone watching will not think of those things. But I do and it just slightly bothers me. I just want the movie to look perfect. I already know, perfecto doesn't exist but I see myself as a slight perfectionist. Okay, so now I gotta back to editing. As I was saying before, there's always things you wish to redo or refilm. Sometimes, you have to do exactly that. I think it might be helpful to start the editing even while filming is still going to know what might need to get filmed again. I don't mean at the location, I mean before the next day. I mentioned in the last blog how I pay attention to details, and of course I made some specific suggestions. One of them being, to slow down the time lapse at the beach a little. The time lapse was supposed to show the struggle Sam and Riley had, the longer the video, the more the struggle. After all, this is their first clue and shouldn't be too easy. Overall, editing doesn't totally suck as I kind of said it did.

The Start of Editing

Welcome back my lovely readers, today marked the start of editing. I have to be honest, editing is my least favorite part. I don't enjoy it that much and usually my group mates take more of a lead in it. I still suggest ideas and sometimes think about editing while filming. One thing that Ashleigh, Britanique, and I did for editing was watching back the videos to make sure they are viable. It would have been terrible if we started editing and realized that one of the clips has messed up audio. Going back to refilm is possible, but not ideal at all. Fortunately, this wasn't an issue. I want to mention some of my editing suggestions. The first suggestion was using the same transition from each scene to the next. I think this has a good look to it and is a small, but important detail. I'm not picky about what transition gets used, just about them being the same. My next suggestion was to use matching colors in the titles. The titles are the names of production companies, actors, and production staff. For example, my name is included since I was an actor. Also, written by... and directed by... as well as many more titles. I think the titles should have a clean look to them. Having a theme of colors, and even fonts, accomplishes this. I don't get as involved in editing as others in my group, but I always try to contribute where I can. I like to pay attention to the small details and find myself noticing them more than bigger things. 

The Entire Process of Filming

Welcome back my lovely readers, my past few blogs felt short and rushed. So, I decided to go over filming one last time and truly analyze it. Filming was my most important task for production as I played the main character. To break down the group's schedule: 5 scenes, 4 different days. Day 1: Scenes 1, 5, & 4; The Parking Garage & Downtown Las Olas. Day 2: Scene 2; The Beach. Day 3: Scene 3; The Downtowner Bridge. Day 4: Scene 1; The Elevator. Each day had different challenges but the largest challenge was continuity. By this I mean wearing the same outfit and accessories, if my hairstyle changes then it needs to happen on screen. Filming was a hectic process, most of these places were quite crowded so scenes got interrupted. At Las Olas, two families had come up to take a picture with the chair. At the Downtowner Bridge, I thought the bridge might go up and make us stuck on the other side. I want to discuss props since I never really did. The movie had quite a few props, since each clue was on a prop. From the poster, to the seashell, to the ticket, and then to the jewelry box there were a couple. Ashleigh was mostly in charge of props and had brought them with her to filming. At the Downtowner Bridge scene, all three of us were cutting out tickets to be used in the scene. When we got to that shot, Ashleigh and I had to scatter them in and around a trash can. All in all, filming was a great process and taught me a lot. Ashleigh and Britanique paid attention to detail very well, which will make editing much easier.

The Elevator

Good morning my lovely readers, yesterday was the conclusion of filming for the movie. After filming 5 scenes over four different days, filming is done. I enjoyed the process of filming, but I'm sad to no longer be able to do it. The scene filmed was part of the first scene, the elevator part. This is the scene where Sam and Riley first interact. Sam just makes it on the elevator, then she notices the poster about the treasure hunt. She mentions it to Riley and asks Riley to join her on the treasure hunt. Of course Riley said yes and the treasure hunt commences. The elevator was definitely my favorite scene to film because it's where the story starts. The garage is like the prologue of a broadway show, but the elevator was the first actual song. Excuse my metaphor, but I wanted to convey how the elevator is the true start to the movie. Ashleigh, Britanique, and I filmed in the closest elevator that I found. Well, it was actually two different elevators. Back at the parking garage, it was very busy so occupying an elevator to film the scene would have been very difficult and selfish. So, the elevator shots got saved for later. Since the parking garage was concrete, Sam needed to enter an elevator with concrete. So, the first elevator had concrete. However, the interior of that elevator wasn't ideal so a second elevator was needed. This elevator worked out nicely and it was quite big. But, there was a slight problem. Riley already has the elevator button pushed when Sam gets on and this elevator only had two floors. Basically, the scene needed to be cut into separate shots because there wasn't enough time to get all the lines in. It ended up working out nicely, and I loved filming the scene.

The Downtowner

Good afternoon my lovely readers, today was the second to last day of filming. It was the filming of the scene right in the middle of the movie. It was the downtowner. It was near the bridge and the water. So, let me tell you all about it. It was a bit of a time crunch, as I had something to get to after filming. The first shot was on a bridge. I was trying to rush Ashleigh and Britanique because I kept worrying that the drawbridge would go up and it would waste so much of the already limited time. The location was perfect for many of the shots that were used. There was a perfect use of aerial shot as well as a wide shot and many other shots. Since it was right near water, Britanique was able to be on the opposite side of the water, and the use of such large shots will be so useful in the movie. In the movie, it is supposed to seem as though Sam and Riley are searching through the entire city. The location did this with ease, and it made filming more fun. As filming had continued, it was Ashleigh, Britanique, and I walked around near the water and using so much space. In the very first scene that was filmed, the space was confined and filming had been such a struggle. By the time that three of us were filming this scene, filming was much easier and was more enjoyable. The last shot filmed was focused on continuity for Sam. In one shot I had to put the ticket away, let my hair down, and put on my jacket. It took a few times but it was important to establish continuity as best as possible for the movie. By the end, the scene was finalized and it became my favorite one to film.